1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a method of providing emergency response to a user carrying a user device and more specifically to establishing communication between the user device and a monitoring database over the Internet to provide such responses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various related art methods and devices are known for providing emergency response to a user and for monitoring the user. One such method connects a device to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the device acts as a speakerphone. If the user encounters an emergency or incident at a distance far from the speakerphone, the user is not able to communicate the nature of the emergency to a human advisor. When the emergency is unknown, emergency personnel, such as police officers, may be called to respond, when such a response is not required. Therefore, the user will not activate their system for fear of being unable to communicate the nature of the emergency effectively and being embarrassed when emergency personnel arrive. Another limitation of the related art device is that the user cannot receive assistance if the user is not inside the home or is too far away to activate the device.
Another related art monitoring system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,512,456. The '456 patent discloses a mobile monitoring system that includes an oversight authority and a user device to monitor bodily function information for the user. The information is transmitted from the user device to the oversight authority. The oversight authority may then notify friends and family as necessary depending upon the information obtained from the user. The information may also include the position of the user based upon global positioning coordinates. The user device communicates the information to a receiving tower that is coupled to the oversight authority. However, the '456 patent does not establish communication between the oversight authority and the user device using the Internet and does not utilize voice-over internet protocols to transmit the information or establish communication.
Other related art systems track users using global positioning systems (GPS) and monitor the user's location. These systems transmit the information to various contacts so that the contacts are able to track the user. Additionally, voice-over internet protocol (VoIP) is increasingly being used for communication over the Internet instead of using the PSTN. However, no related art systems combine monitoring and tracking of the user with the user being able to notify contacts of emergency or incidents by establishing communication over the Internet.
Accordingly, the related art methods are characterized by one or more inadequacies. It would be advantageous to provide a system and user device that overcomes the inadequacies described above.